So, I've begun work on my first real project. I'm going to create what will ultimately be the stage/setting for an animated short. So it'll be kind of a long-term learning project.

It's basically going to be a kitchen counter scene. I've started off with creating a canister via Lathing.

In the event I want to change something about the Canister shape, or something goes horribly wrong with the one(s) I've already created. I'd like to keep their profiles "backed up". I thought maybe I could keep them on a hidden layer, via the Options > Layers dialog. I'm *assuming* they're layers as in different "pages" you can create and keep objects on, to hide/show, etc... I can't seem to figure out how to get the profiles off the main layer and on to another one. I've tried looking it up in the "Learning" section, but I couldn't find a direct entry for 'Layers', and I'm not sure what manual section that would be under.

Is there a way to move objects from one layer to another? Or are they 'stuck' on the layer they're created on?

Well, clicking outside the circle is where the Roll happens. It doesn't happen when you click inside the circle. I was looking to disable 'Roll' altogether, so the behavior would always be like it is when you click inside the circle, no matter where you click. More of a "turn-table" type rotation.

Looks like a nice, clean model . While I spend most of my time with other animation packages (chiefly for render speed) I still always start with Animator. The interface is clean and uncluttered, utterly free of malarky and I still think it's the best modeller around. This is a shot from a web series I'm working on, while it was rendered elsewhere all the modelling was done in Anim8or using the same set of tools you used to build your house (took a little longer than an hour though!). Good luck with your Anim8ing and welcome to the forums.

lol... Yeah, like I said, it's nothing earth shattering, and certainly not posted to show off any modeling skills. Just me sharing my excitement at finding (or re-finding, I guess) a program that not only appeals to my preference of a program as a tool to get things done, but also easy to pick up and get to work with. I hate having to first figure a barrage of fancy bells and whistles that look great on a "Features" bullet list, but really only place more steps in the way of achieving the same results.

Steven nails it with Anim8or, I think. Straight-forward tools, with easy to remember shortcut keys. Too bad I didn't come back to this sooner heh. Could have saved a lot of wasted time.

So far, the only thing that trips me up is working between World, Object and Screen space. Some tools, I notice, won't work in certain modes, and others seem to work kinda weird in some lol. I had an object I was working/learning with yesterday, and found that if I wanted to move a couple vertices in the Y direction, I had to lock it to X. Never quite figured out why that was happening. It never happened again after that.

That model looks great! Is an animation anywhere to be seen, yet?

Also, what external app do you use for rendering, if you don't mind me asking?

Need the occasional Diversion when 'Deeper' needs a break. Have had animation and animated gifs on my mind today, and christmas pressys, so put this together this afternoon. Froyds Xmas gift from hell. I don't know whats in the box, but it doesn't like to be moved. Takes more than a stubborn xmas gift to upset Froyd tho. Could go over it a few more times, but had enough for now. Was just a diversion..

So as of now, I might have that second animator I wanted! She's going to try it out and see how it goes. It'll be volunteer for now until I can actually make some money with this.

So this whole project took 7 months total. 2 for the sketch animation, and 5 for the full animation. There was the issue that I wasn't constantly working on it though, and if I was, it probably would have gone a lot faster. Hopefully the first episode won't take 77 months to finish! That would not be good. With a second animator and me getting more diligence, hopefully it will be done sooner than I'm expecting.

Ahh, well that's a neat trick to know if I only want to rotate it on one axis.

I looked around some more, though, and it looks like there's no option to eliminate the "roll" altogether, so that normal rotation is just pitch and yaw. It's fine, I can work with it. Just something small that would've been neat to have.

So, I've been having a blast learning this program. It's crazy to think there are tools in here that are missing in $300+ programs. And I haven't even gotten out of the modeling tab yet.

Anyway!

Quick question.. Is there a way to disable the "Roll" part of the Arc Rotate, so there's only the Pitch and Yaw aspect?

It's not a huge deal, but I've always found it disorienting when I can roll the camera/user view. I know you can avoid Roll by starting with the cursor inside the circle. But, I was just wondering if there's a way to toggle off the Roll part altogether. I've looked for an option, but don't see one. Thought I'd ask anyway.

Now, this is nothing amazing, and it's not going to win any awards lol... BUT, I wanted to share it anyway.

One of the first things I try to create when I'm learning (or re-learning in this case) a 3D program, is basic polygon house. It tends to use most of the more common mesh-editing tools, and so, if I can get it completed with little or no hassle, I know the program is going to be worth continuing with.

I first posted here, what... an hour-ish ago? In that time, I've gotten the basics down enough (even the knife tool!) to create a basic house.

By comparison, that other program I just came from, I spent a few days working with.. I was never able to create anything like this, due to how convoluted and confusing their tools and workflow are.

Such a world of difference when a program's creator is focused on making their workflow straight-forward and intuitive, versus trying to impress... themselves?... with how overly complex they can make theirs. I really think that some software devs - especially for graphics programs - forget, or maybe fail to understand, who they're developing it for.

And I've barely even dipped a toe in, yet. Going to be spending some quality time with this app, I think :p.

Cool! I will definitely dig in and give it a go. I did download both the current and "latest" versions, and I really like the updated interface, color scheme, etc. Like I said... very "lean and to the point".

Are the existing tutorials still applicable to the latest build? The flower one, etc? That's likely how I'll dive back in and re-learn stuff.

Hi, wolfsong73! Welcome to the forum. I retired a couple of years ago and now have a lot more time to work on Anim8or. There are a lot of things I want to do with it for the "next release" so I wasn't sure when I'd get that done. So I decided to post updates on what I was developing so that I could both get feedback on the design and bug reports along the way.

In my opinion this has worked out quite well. The builds that I post from time to time are quite stable. The main issue is that the documentation isn't up to date, so you have to read through the different topics in the "Ongoing Anim8or Development" section of the forum if you have questions. You should give it a try. Anim8or is still just a single executable file so you can always use an older version without having to uninstall anything, or even run both side-by-side to compare them.

Take a look at the new "Topographical Knife" tool in point edit mode. It's a great new modeling tool (and a big "Thanks" to raxx for all his input in the design).

Just joined up on the forums here, and decided to pop in to say hi!, and to ask a question.

So.. Hello!

So, I used Anim8or originally some time ago, years at this point. Decided to come back because I remember it being a very simple (not in the bad way) and to-the-point application. A lot of other 3D apps nowadays are getting very bloated and over-engineered (in my opinion). I just finally said "okay, enough" to a stint with another one, from a fairly well-known company, whose developers seem to place more importance on "doing everything differently", than on creating an intuitive and approachable app. Not going to name which, 'cause I don't want this to be a "this vs. that" type of post.

Anyway!

I'm looking for a small, no-nonsense program that lets me jump in and start getting things done. I remembered Anim8or being one of the few out there designed around that kind of approach.

So, as for my question...

I was looking through some threads, and saw that there's a 1247 build available, but it seems to be a dev build, not a final one. Is that recommended? Or would it be better to jump back in with the one linked on the Download page?